Marco Rubio, in Houston appearance, calls Obama ‘a painful disaster’

Before an audience of Hispanic Republicans gathered in Houston, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio offered a preview of his remarks at the Republican National Convention, labeling President Barack Obama “a painful disaster for millions of Americans” and challenger Mitt Romney as both a successful businessman and “a successful person.”

A first-term senator and oft-mentioned vice-presidential possibility before Romney chose Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan last week, Rubio told an enthusiastic audience of about 200 that Obama was a failure.

“Instead of getting spending under control, he helped pass $800 billion on his so-called stimulus bill, much of it wasted on pork-barrel spending,” he said, speaking to the Texas Hispanic Leadership Forum at Houston’s Hotel Omni. “He passed Obamacare, that absolutely hurt small businesses with high taxes and more regulations. He got Congress to pass and federal bureaucracies to develop more rules that he said would keep investors and businesses in line. And none of it worked.”

Obama, he said, “doesn’t believe in the American free enterprise system, because he doesn’t understand the principles that truly make us great.”

Seeking to humanize a candidate who has been criticized for his reluctance to talk about his personal life, Florida’s junior senator said Romney, whom he will introduce at the RNC, is a successful husband and father and a successful member of his church and community.

“Everywhere he’s been he’s volunteered his time and his talents to make things better for those around him,” he said.

Rubio told his Houston audience that his best friend growing up was his late grandfather, who was born in Cuba and disabled by polio at an early age.

“He told me that because I was an American son, there was nothing that I could not do and there was no limit to how far I could go,” Rubio said, adding that he hoped his grandfather would be watching when he introduced “the next president of the United States” in two weeks.

Rubio, 41, who often is viewed as a compelling antidote to the perception that his party is hostile to Hispanic interests, already enjoys a high national profile. It is likely to be even higher after his prime-time remarks at the convention on Aug. 30 in Tampa, in his home state.

Aside from noting that he is the son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio did not address the nation’s immigration controversy. He publicly has opposed immigration reform that would not first secure the border and supports English as the nation’s official language, but has said that Arizona’s strict immigration measures should not be a national model. He also has discussed an alternative to the Dream Act.

An engaging speaker, the youthful-looking tea party favorite exudes charm. After brief opening remarks in Spanish, he translated for non-Spanish speakers. “I was saying how I saved a bunch of money on my car insurance,” he joked.

Rubio’s Houston audience frequently interrupted his remarks with applause and gave him a standing ovation.

“I was very impressed with his speaking,” said Drew McCall, a detention officer with the Harris County Sheriff’s Department. “He’s very energetic.”

Linda Vega, a Houston attorney who specializes in immigration law, called Rubio “a great speaker whose life is proof of the American dream.”

Rubio’s Houston appearance was his second at an annual forum organized by Associated Republicans of Texas. The group operates the Hispanic Voter Network initiative.

From Houston, Rubio traveled to San Antonio, where he was scheduled to attend two exclusive gatherings benefiting Romney Victory Inc. One of the gatherings required a $25,000 contibution.

Preceding Rubio at the Houston event, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said he was “cementing the unification of the Republican Party and the Hispanic community.”

Hispanics were turning to the Republican Party, Abbott said, “because the Democrat Party is increasingly showing hostility to the core values that Americans share.”